Photos by Amanda Summerlin
The Glö-Couple (tell us a fun fact about each of you):
Karen, Homeless Education, just learning about animated movies (find Karen on twitter) and
Michelle, Veterinary Technician, reptile lover
Celebration Date & Location:
April 12, 2014
Greensboro, NC
Our church, the Unitarian Universalist Church of Greensboro
Tell us how you got engaged:
No specific engagement story, we just knew over time we would be together. We initially exchanged rings in February 2012, while we were still living apart but committed to being together. By the fall we were finally able to live together, by the next spring we decided to go ahead and plan our wedding. We really wanted our friends and family to be there and didn’t want to keep waiting!
What’s the overall ‘feeling’ you’re aiming for with your celebration:
The overall feeling of the day was guided by the invitation from e.m. papers “Love Joy Happiness.” Everything was filtered through this lens: does it bring us love joy happiness? If yes, it’s in, if no it’s out. We had food that we loved and we knew our guests would love, we wore clothes we loved and looked smashing in, we hosted an open house the night before so our out of towners could meet our Wedding Team and already have friends at the wedding. Our choir was a big part of the wedding, both at the beginning and at the end. We included both a serious and silly reading. The whole event was incredibly joyous. Many people told us it was the most joyful wedding they’ve ever attended.
Are you adding any fun twists on tradition:
Instead of a bridal party we had a Wedding Team. We asked a couple friend of ours to be the captains about six months out then had a Wedding Team lunch two months out so people could understand the logistics and flow of the wedding. Instead of a ring bearer, we asked a child that my partner teaches in the Religious Education program to bring us the rings at the appropriate time. This way he could sit with his family and go sit back down with them.
What was the inspiration for your Glövite and Glösite design? If you made them yourself, tell us how you did it.
The design was definitely the theme of the wedding. We picked out the invitation design probably two years before we started planning. It was always our focus: Love Joy Happiness. E.m. papers designed a poster for us for people to sign and we had it hanging in our kitchen long before our wedding. On our glosite wedding website we worked to make everything as simple and user friendly as possible. We worked to make sure everyone felt welcome, beginning with our website.
Let’s show off your Glövites and Glösite
Any good planning tips and tricks for the couples who are just starting to plan?
Plan in advance as much as possible. Create a timeline and stick to deadlines. You will have much less stress in the time leading up to your wedding. Get as much done in advance as you can! I am a HUGE fan of A Practical Wedding and OffBeat Bride. Both have great spreadsheets that I highly recommend. Yes, spreadsheets. Use them! The only thing I wish I had done differently was tell a couple of groups of folks that I wanted pictures with them. Some people left before we could do this. Don’t make this mistake! Most of all have fun!
What’s the biggest “say what?” moment or funny story that’s happened since you started planning?
Our wedding clothes were custom made. To create the design for my now wife’s vest, we went all over town trying to find something that fit her right so we could tell our seamstress about it. Then we bought the reflective vest from IKEA for her to use when she goes out running in the morning. She came back from her run and said “This is the right design! Use this!” So we took the measurements from the reflective vest and sent it off to our seamstress. It was perfect.
There were the moments of frustration with people not rsvp’ing correctly or saying insensitive things like “I just can’t commit that far (two months!) out.” Whatever. Everything will work out.
Who are the magical partners who helped bring your celebration to life?
Paperless Invitation design, printed invitations, guest signature sign and other printables: e.m. papers
Photographer: Amanda Summerlin
Outfits: Miss Brache custom clothes
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